Self-assembling robots use flywheels to flick themselves around.

At a certain level of complexity and obligation, sets of blocks can easily go from fun to tiresome to assemble. Legos? K’Nex? Great. Ikea furniture? Bridges? Construction scaffolding? Not so much. To make things easier, three scientists at MIT recently exhibited a system of self-assembling cubic robots that could in theory automate the process of putting complex systems together.

The blocks, dubbed M-Blocks, use a combination of magnets and an internal flywheel to move around and stick together. The flywheels, running off an internal battery, generate angular momentum that allows the blocks to flick themselves at each other, spinning them through the air. Magnets on the surfaces of the blocks allow them to click into position.

Each flywheel inside the blocks can spin at up to 20,000 rotations per minute. Motion happens when the flywheel spins and then is suddenly braked by a servo motor that tightens a belt encircling the flywheel, imparting its angular momentum to the body of the blocks. That momentum sends the block flying at a certain velocity toward its fellow blocks (if there is a lot of it) or else rolling across the ground (if there's less of it). Watching a video of the blocks self-assembling, the effect is similar to watching Sid’s toys rally in Toy Story—a little off-putting to see so many parts moving into a whole at once, unpredictably moving together like balletic dying fish.

M-Blocks

Each of the blocks is controlled by a 32-bit ARM microprocessor and three 3.7 volt batteries that afford each one between 20 and 100 moves before the battery life is depleted. Rolling is the least complicated motion, though the blocks can also use their flywheels to turn corners, climb over each other, or even complete a leap from ground level to three blocks high, sticking the landing on top of a column 51 percent of the time.

The blocks use 6-axis inertial measurement units, like those found on planes, ships, or spacecrafts, to figure out how they are oriented in space. Each cube has an IR LED and a photodiode that cubes use to communicate with each other.

The torque and forces an M-Block experiences from the use of its flywheel. C is the magnetic force between blocks that must be broken for the block to move away from one of its own.

The authors note that the cubes’ motion is not very precise yet; one cube is considered to have moved successfully if it hits its goal position within three tries. The researchers found the RPMs needed to generate momentum for different movements through trial and error.

If the individual cube movements weren’t enough, groups of the cubes can also move together in either a cluster or as a row of cubes rolling in lockstep. A set of four cubes arranged in a square attempting to roll together in a block approaches the limits of the cubes’ hardware, the authors write. The cubes can even work together to get around an obstacle, rolling over each other and stacking together World War Z-zombie style until the bump in the road has been crossed.

Enlarge/ The "torque balance" equation that governs the blocks' movement. θ is an angle as a function of time, T(k) is the pure moment, which should be maximized, while the mass m and inertia I are minimized.

The researchers who assembled the project write that the cubes’ design is scale-independent—it could serve as the basis for a system of millions of tiny cubes or a bunch of really big ones. MIT compares their future potential to the liquid steel of Terminator II, but mobile cubes could also be used more generally for repair situations like patching up buildings or bridges in emergencies, for instance.

The authors note that for the same flywheel speed and volume scale, a single large block could generate more torque than a same-sized assembly of many small blocks. In the future, the group hopes to implement bi-directional flywheels that will save the cubes some effort for certain kinds of motion and give them more versatility.

So commercial self-assembling pieces are a long way off. That’s just as well. If we unboxed Ikea cabinets only to have the pieces start inching and flopping toward each other… well, the world is not ready for that yet.

Casey Johnston
Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics. Twitter@caseyjohnston

With 1 static flywheel, these blocks are limited to 1 axis of rotation. It needs to be mounted on biaxial swivels. Also, the use of permanent magnets limits their applications. In the future, they could use electromagnets to dock, then lock by mechanical means.

I, too, enjoy self-flagellation followed by jumping into an acid bath.

Never done Ikea, but I've done a number of the other brands of that sort of terrible furniture. It's not bad once you've done a few pieces. It always takes three times longer than it should, but eventually that's like 2 hours . You think "that was awful" and then remind yourself that real furniture costs 2-5 times as much.

what's wrong with paying a deposit on an assembler bot that puts whatever (furniture) it is together then packs itself up for UPS pickup? then the furniture doesn't have to resemble a game of tetris...

I, too, enjoy self-flagellation followed by jumping into an acid bath.

Never done Ikea, but I've done a number of the other brands of that sort of terrible furniture. It's not bad once you've done a few pieces. It always takes three times longer than it should, but eventually that's like 2 hours . You think "that was awful" and then remind yourself that real furniture costs 2-5 times as much.

Actually, all my experiences with IKEA stuff is that it's FAR easier than most pre-fab stuff. It also isn't made of such cheap wood that it''l rip itself apart if you don't nail the back on a bookshelf before standing it up, for example.

People talk shit about IKEA quite a bit, but in reality, it's the only assembly required furniture I've ever had that was worth the cost. Kitchen designers are known for using IKEA cabinets in their own kitchens, because the next closest in quality cost 3 times as much.

I, too, enjoy self-flagellation followed by jumping into an acid bath.

Never done Ikea, but I've done a number of the other brands of that sort of terrible furniture. It's not bad once you've done a few pieces. It always takes three times longer than it should, but eventually that's like 2 hours . You think "that was awful" and then remind yourself that real furniture costs 2-5 times as much.

Actually, all my experiences with IKEA stuff is that it's FAR easier than most pre-fab stuff. It also isn't made of such cheap wood that it''l rip itself apart if you don't nail the back on a bookshelf before standing it up, for example.

People talk shit about IKEA quite a bit, but in reality, it's the only assembly required furniture I've ever had that was worth the cost. Kitchen designers are known for using IKEA cabinets in their own kitchens, because the next closest in quality cost 3 times as much.

I have to agree. I've cursed almost every non-Ikea assembly-required piece I've had to work with. IKEA stuff, OTOH, has always been simple and straightforward to put together. I've always thought it must be some kind of mental "oh, this will be hard" thing that makes folks hate this stuff and, since IKEA is so recognizable and easy to say, they bear the brunt of it all. *shrugs* Maybe it's just me.

I doubt the quality of said "furniture" would even meat Ikea levels...

Regardless, I'd rather have a full scale IkeaBot that can assemble real furniture without me having to do anything other than place the sealed box next to it and mark where I want the furniture to go. That sounds a lot easier to accomplish yet still fantastic.

Also one of these days you'll be able to use your 3D printer to build furniture.

There's a fake wood that's made out of resin. The high quality stuff looks just like wood and is more expensive. It's great for building things like decks and balconies. A 3D printer would probably be very good at printing a material like that.

So I will wait until my grandkids are reading the paper about someone suing Ikea because they didn't leave the required 15-foot clear space for their "self assembling wardrobe" and it destroyed their TV and put a hole through the wall ... and I will say "I told you so.. "

I, too, enjoy self-flagellation followed by jumping into an acid bath.

Never done Ikea, but I've done a number of the other brands of that sort of terrible furniture. It's not bad once you've done a few pieces. It always takes three times longer than it should, but eventually that's like 2 hours . You think "that was awful" and then remind yourself that real furniture costs 2-5 times as much.

Actually, all my experiences with IKEA stuff is that it's FAR easier than most pre-fab stuff. It also isn't made of such cheap wood that it''l rip itself apart if you don't nail the back on a bookshelf before standing it up, for example.

People talk shit about IKEA quite a bit, but in reality, it's the only assembly required furniture I've ever had that was worth the cost. Kitchen designers are known for using IKEA cabinets in their own kitchens, because the next closest in quality cost 3 times as much.

I have to agree. I've cursed almost every non-Ikea assembly-required piece I've had to work with. IKEA stuff, OTOH, has always been simple and straightforward to put together. I've always thought it must be some kind of mental "oh, this will be hard" thing that makes folks hate this stuff and, since IKEA is so recognizable and easy to say, they bear the brunt of it all. *shrugs* Maybe it's just me.

Just furnished a new apartment from scratch, the few pieces of Ikea furniture I picked were by and far the easiest to assemble. Barely needed the instructions.

My grandfather, an old school manual labor kinda guy who actually could build stuff from scratch, stopped by for a cup of coffee when I was putting an Ikea shelf together. I expected him to dismiss the piece out of hand. Instead he marveled at the design and praised the fibreboard - no deficiencies, doesn't 'live' and bend with time, etc.